Terror in New York City

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“Terror in New York City”
Thunderbirds episode
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 4
Written by Alan Fennell
Directed by David Elliott, David Lane
Production no. 13
Original airdate 21 October 1965
Episode chronology
← Previous Next →
"The Perils of Penelope" "Edge of Impact"
List of Thunderbirds episodes

"Terror in New York City" is the 4th episode of the first series of the Supermarionation television series Thunderbirds. It was the 13th episode to be produced. Its original air date on ATV Midlands in the United Kingdom was 21 October 1965. It was written by Alan Fennell and directed by David Elliott and David Lane.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

An attempt to move the Empire State Building ends in disaster when it collapses, trapping a reporter and his cameraman below ground. With Thunderbird 2 out of commission due to an accidental Navy attack, how will Gordon transport Thunderbird 4 to New York to navigate an underground river and save the men before their hollow is completely flooded?

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

A fire is raging at an oil well in a desert. While Scott observes from Mobile Control, Virgil, manning the Firefly, drives through the thick smoke and fires a nitroglycerin shell onto the blaze. The fire is instantly extinguished.

While Virgil returns the Firefly to Thunderbird 2’s pod, a reporter, Ned Cook, looks on and complains about International Rescue’s refusal to let him photograph the Thunderbird craft. Ordering his cameraman, Joe, to operate the camera mounted on the roof of their van, he drives the vehicle to cover the lift-off of Thunderbird 1. Scott is alerted by the automatic camera detector and electromagnetically wipes the film. He explains his delay to Virgil in Thunderbird 2 and the brothers start the journey back to Tracy Island.

Flying over ocean, Virgil detects a fast-moving ship and Scott assumes that it is the USN Sentinel, the US Navy’s new strike vessel. Virgil informs Scott that he is changing his course to avoid being tracked. The commander of the Sentinel, however, learning that Thunderbird 2 is now heading for New York and that no aircraft are scheduled to be in the area, deems the craft as hostile and orders an immediate surface-to-air missile attack. Virgil evades the first pair of rockets, but the next round explodes directly beneath Thunderbird 2. As the craft, now on fire, nose-dives towards the ocean, Jeff reveals its identity to Washington and the government orders the Sentinel Commander to abort the final two missiles. Virgil regains consciousness just in time to pull Thunderbird 2 out of its dive, narrowly avoiding crashing into the sea.

On Tracy Island, Jeff directs Alan and Gordon to prepare the fire-fighting equipment on Thunderbird 2’s runway. Brains is confident that the craft will reach base provided that the main reactor is not damaged, but Thunderbird 2’s instrumentation has gone haywire and Virgil cannot determine its status. Jeff enters the landing control room just as Alan and Gordon raise a number of erect hoses at the sides of the landing strip. However, as Thunderbird 2 touches down, its wheels collapse and the craft goes out of control. Alan and Gordon fire foam from the hoses to extinguish the flames and the machine grinds to a halt as Virgil again passes out. Eventually, Virgil wakes up in bed to be told by Jeff that Thunderbird 2 will be out of use for several weeks while Brains and Tin-Tin install various new components ordered from different aircraft corporations.

Some time later, Ned Cook is hosting a TV news programme reporting an attempt to move the Empire State Building to pave the way for redevelopment. As the International Rescue team watch on Tracy Island, Ned explains that it has taken 12 years to reach the point where the building has been raised with hydraulic jacks and rails slid underneath it. As a gantry begins to pull the building along the rails, Ned can barely contain his excitement. However, cracks start to appear in the ground and the machinery is deactivated. Ned and cameraman Joe are ordered off the site by the police, but a sudden land subsidence causes the ground to slip and the two men plunge into a chasm. Although Ned and Joe are only slightly injured, the Empire State Building lists to one side and crashes down on top of them.

International Rescue are left staring at rubble until Ned’s voice comes on air and asks for help over a microphone. Ned describes how he can hear water trickling into their cavern and Brains deduces that the men must be near to an underground river, which might have caused the collapse of the Empire State Building. Realising that Ned and Joe will drown, Gordon vows to pilot Thunderbird 4 all the way to New York with Thunderbird 2 out of commission, but his plan is branded by Jeff as hazardous and impractical. Virgil suggests that the Sentinel could ferry Thunderbird 4 to the danger zone and Jeff contacts Washington for permission. Scott blasts off in Thunderbird 1 and Gordon launches Thunderbird 4 off the end of Thunderbird 2’s runway.

In New York, the police have set up a site control and drilled a hole into the cavern to convey provisions. However, the water inside Ned and Joe’s hollow is rising. Thunderbird 4 is picked up by the Sentinel, but even with the vessel travelling at maximum speed, Gordon faces a 24-hour ETA.

Upon landing at the danger zone, Scott is advised by Jeff to have breathing equipment delivered to Ned and Joe to keep them alive until Thunderbird 4 arrives. With two hours to go until Gordon’s arrival, the water is up to the men’s necks. They are forced to don their masks - and their tanks only have a two-hour supply of air. Soon, twenty minutes remain. Gordon launches Thunderbird 4 under the heavy New York shipping and eventually locates the entrance to the underground river. Knowing that time is short, Scott urges Ned and Joe to assist by swimming up the river to meet him.

The police inform Scott that the Fulmer Finance Building is also set to collapse in the vicinity. Realising that a hammering current would be fatal to the reporter and his cameraman, Scott warns Gordon that he has two and a half minutes. With their tanks almost exhausted, Ned at last spots Thunderbird 4’s beacon and helps Joe to enter the craft’s airlock. The Fulmer Finance Building tumbles onto the wreckage of the Empire State. Scott and the police dive for cover, while Thunderbird 4 is hurtled onto the seabed.

In the latest edition of his weekly show, Ned, recovering from his ordeal in a wheelchair, thanks International Rescue for saving his life and that of his cameraman. Praising the organisation’s work, he fails to notice that most of the team is seated in the back row.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Regular Voice Cast

[edit] Guest Voice Cast

  • Ned Cook — Matt Zimmerman
  • Joe — David Graham
  • Sentinel Commander — Ray Barrett
  • First Officer Clayton — David Graham
  • Scanners — Shane Rimmer
  • Washington — Shane Rimmer
  • Newsreader — Ray Barrett
  • 1st Policeman - Site Control — Ray Barrett
  • 2nd Policeman - Site Control — David Graham
  • Police Patrol — David Graham
  • Garner — David Graham
  • TV Compere — Ray Barrett

[edit] Main Equipment

The vehicles and equipment featured in this episode are:

  • Thunderbird 1
  • Thunderbird 2 (carrying Pod 6)
  • Thunderbird 4
  • Firefly
  • USN Sentinel

[edit] Goofs

  • Red scaffolding propping up the crippled Thunderbird 2 in its Tracy Island hangar also appears as the Empire State Building gantry.
  • The back of Joe’s head flies off as he and Ned fall into the cavern.
  • As Thunderbird 4 is hit by the shockwave from the Fulmer Finance Building, water trickles down the glass of the thin tank placed in front of the model set.
  • At The Ned Cook Show, the Dr Godber puppet (from "The Perils of Penelope") is initially seated near the stage, but then appears in front of Jeff near the back.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

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